Boston Ballet’s 60th season opens in one month with Fall Experience, a program that features four ballets choreographed by Akram Khan, Hans van Manen, Jorma Elo, and My’Kal Stromile.
From October 5-15, the company will perform several firsts of sorts; Boston Ballet is the first American company to perform Khan’s Vertical Road while Trois Gnossiennes will see its Boston premiere; Bach Cello Suites returns after five years; and Stromile will create his first mainstage work.
Boston Ballet's 60th Season Trailer
Set to a commissioned score by composer Nitin Sawhney, the choreography for Vertical Road is inspired by the Sufi tradition and the Persian poet and philosopher Rumi.
“I have always believed that a space where bodies are allowed to express and question what it means to be human, is absolutely necessary for all of us, as a society, and as a civilization. And if you don’t have the space to feel at home in your body, you will never feel at home in the world.
Boston Ballet has continuously brought together artists from different sides of the globe to present, to share, to learn and to celebrate the power of dance.
I am so excited for Boston Ballet to embody Vertical Road. It is a work that calls upon the real. It is about ritual, it is about process, it is about the labor of human movement to try and reach a place, where the movement eventually arrives at stillness. Because in stillness, the real movement begins, which calls upon the inner movement of our soul.”- Akram Khan.
The rehearsal process for the 12-member cast is intense as Khan adapts the piece each time he sets it based on the emotional and spiritual state he is currently in. Uniquely, the six weeks leading up to the performance, the dancers dedicate themselves only to Vertical Road.
The couple in van Manen’s Trois Gnossiennes is accompanied by an on-stage pianist who plays Erik Satie’s composition of the same name. The choreography includes movement of the piano by three other dancers, the trio created by the pas deux and musician revealing “the harmony and tension that manifests in physical movement and musical texture”.
Also featuring a musician (this time a cellist) sharing stage space with the dancers is Elo’s Bach Cello Suites, a work last performed by Boston Ballet in 2018. Sergey Antonov, winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 2007, will again accompany the 10 dancers playing Bach’s Cello Suites Nos. 1 & 2.
Rounding out the program is a world premiere by company dancer My’Kal Stromile titled Form and Gesture.
The piece, which aims to forge classical ballet with contemporary innovation, is sectioned into five parts:
- Exhibit A: Tune Fortification
- Exhibit B: Chord Progressions
- Entr’Acte (The Interval),
- Exhibit C: Apparatus Augmentation
- Exhibit D: sketches, graphs, and parabolas
Stromile explains further:
“For this debut piece, I wanted to create something that was both bold and accessible, that would challenge the audience while still allowing them to connect emotionally with the dancers and the music.
I have drawn on a range of influences, from classical ballet to contemporary dance, to create a style that is uniquely my own.
Throughout the rehearsal process, I have been struck by the incredible talent and dedication of the dancers, who have brought my vision to life with grace and precision. I have also been blessed with a team of talented designers and technicians, who have worked tirelessly to create visually stunning and immersive experiences.
Ultimately, my goal as a choreographer is to use movement to tell stories, to express emotions that are beyond words, and to create moments of beauty and transcendence that stay with the audience long after the curtain has fallen.”
All performances for Fall Experience, the opening program for Boston Ballet’s 60th season, will be held at Citizens Bank Opera House.
- Thursday, Oct 5 at 7:30 pm
- Friday, Oct 6 at 7:30 pm
- Saturday, Oct 7 at 7:30 pm
- Sunday, Oct 8 at 1:30 pm
- Thursday, Oct 12 at 7:30 pm
- Friday, Oct 13 at 7:30 pm
- Saturday, Oct 14 at 1:30 and 7:30 pm
- Sunday, Oct 15 at 1:30 pm
Featured Photo for Boston Ballet’s 60th Season of the company in Jorma Elo’s Bach Cello Suites. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor, courtesy of Boston Ballet.
